Do You Accept Me for Who I Am?
by Sleygal
Summary: Umi has a secret. She wants to tell Kotori but would the ashen-haired girl accept it?


**As something to take my mind off from NaNoWriMo, here's something I cooked up. It sucks I know.**

 **Still do not own them.**

* * *

Kotori stood paralysed with fear and shock. The lights inside the room are off. The only light that's illuminating the room is from the full moon outside. Not a sound can be heard into the night as the ashen-haired girl stared at a figure hidden by the shadows of her room.

* * *

A few moments ago, Kotori and Umi are watching a rather romantic movie. Kotori went on ahead and asked Umi if she would like to spend the night in her house because her mother is away on a business meeting. The bluenette agreed and met up with Kotori after getting a few things from her house. After dinner, they decided to watch a movie to pass time. Unknown to Umi, Kotori had plugged in a rather romantic movie. Half of the time, Kotori could only giggle while Umi tries to hide her face with a pillow from the couch.

However, something flipped inside the archer when she heard certain words from the movie. It coaxed her out of hiding and managed to see past the romance of the movie.

" _Do you accept me for who I am?"_

Once the movie is done, Kotori opened the lights and turned off the television. Umi was suddenly unresponsive and when the ashen-haired girl tried to nudge her, Umi looked at her with determination in her eyes.

"Kotori."

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you accept me for who I am?"

"Of course, Umi-chan!" Kotori looked at the bluenette in confusion. Umi continued to look down at her hands. "W-What is this about?"

"There's something that I should tell you."

* * *

Kotori looked up in shock when Umi finished telling her. She knows Umi is not the type of person who believes in supernatural beings but Umi is also not the type to lie. She couldn't see how the archer would lie something big as this. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out of it. Umi just sighed and went towards Kotori's window. She pulled the window open, letting the moonlight flood the room.

Before Kotori could ask what the bluenette is doing, she noticed that Umi's frame is slightly trembling. She stood near the window, basking underneath the moonlight. Umi's hands are trembling hard now as she grunted in pain. Loud popping sounds were coming from the ¬bluenette as her hands slowly curled into fists. Leathery objects pushed out from Umi's palms, giving her some sort of paw pads. Kotori could make out the shapes of sharp claws protruding from Umi's hands. The pain forced Umi onto her knees. Her hands now resemble paws of an animal as she continues to hiss in pain.

The sounds are getting louder as the changes came at a much faster rate. Loud popping sounds continue on as Umi's feet started to shift. Her heels move up while her toenails lengthen into sharp claws. The same leathery substance pop out of the undersides of Umi's feet, giving the changing girl a soft padding on her feet. Her spine contorts and twists underneath the skin. Its bones started pushing up and readjusting to lock the archer into a quadruped stance. The bluenette's clothing slowly gets destroyed as her body expands and put on some muscles on her limbs. Umi grunts in pain as it assaulted her every being all at the same time. Bluish strands of hair push out of her skin, coating her body in a nice coat of blue fur. Her grunts of pain started to turn into low growls of an animal. Her teeth sharpened and her tongue grew thick and long. Her ears twist their shape while migrating towards the top of her head. Her body is not covered with blue fur while her spine jutted out, extending outwards away from her body. It started into a small lump until it slowly grew over time, giving Umi a naked tail. Not too long after its complete growth, fur started to cover the naked tail. Her face starts to push out as the fur crept up towards it. Umi growls in pain as her muzzle pushes to its proper length.

The popping sounds and growls died down,signalling the end of the transformation. What replaced a blue-haired girl minutes ago is a large blue wolf. Its amber eyes opened after the change and saw an ashen-haired human girl standing in front of her.

* * *

Umi could smell the fear coming off from Kotori.

This is the reason why she kept it hidden from two of her friends. She was afraid that if they found out about this, they would turn their backs on her. She was born normally with no problems but when she reach the age of ten, something inside of her awaken and transformed her into her wolf form for the first time. She was in archery competition that time. Luckily, the competition ended so she bolted away from the venue afterward. Her wolf form proved to be fast and agile, running towards her house while hiding from the eyes of other people. Once she reached the gate of her house, the wolf in her made her jump so high that she managed to get past the railings of the gate.

Her parents found her curled up in her room. After her stunt from the archery competition, her parents reassured her that it was their fault. They wouldn't know that the werewolf blood which lay dormant inside of them would be passed on to her. Umi couldn't do anything but curled up, afraid to do anything while in this form. Her mother stroked her fur in assurance every time she transforms. Although she retains her human mind, some of the wolf instincts eventually surfaced. Some of her transformations leave her room in a mess the next day. She thought that the wolf side of her got bored and decided to thrash the whole place down.

It wasn't like her transformation is triggered by the full moon. She could transform anytime if she wishes to. At first, it was always the wolf who wanted out but Umi, having learned control and patience due to her archery and kendo training, put them into good use. Over the years, she managed to control the beast sleeping inside her not to wake up when she doesn't want it to. It made her childhood with Kotori and Honoka enjoyable without having to turn all wolf on them.

She didn't know why but something stirred inside of her to reveal her true self to Kotori tonight. Something about the movie they just watched triggered it.

" _Do you accept me for who I am?"_

Again, those words rang in her mind as she stood in her place, watching Kotori panic from her transformation. It's a good thing her face is hidden in the shadows or else Kotori would see her crestfallen expression.

* * *

Kotori slowly backed away from the animal until her back hit the walls of her room. Because of this, she unknowingly hit the light switch, causing the well-lit room to plunge into darkness. Only the moon provided a light source for them as both human and animal stared at each other. Despite being hidden by shadows, Kotori could still feel Umi's presence in her room.

Once she felt her heart calm down and her body relaxes, she surveyed the room, trying to make out of Umi's figure in the darkness.

"U-Umi-chan?" She croaked. Her voice is raspy due to the fear she experienced earlier. Umi's ears twitched at the sound of her name. Hesitantly, as if she's testing the waters, the blue wolf emerged from the darkness. The moonlight illuminated the blue fur covering its entire body. Her glowing amber orbs glinted in the darkness as she stared out at her friend.

Steeling her nerves, Kotori moved away from the wall and slowly reached out her hand. She could see it slightly tremble from the fear of seeing something unreal in reality. Umi saw the courage resonating in Kotori's frame. As the hand slowly inched towards her, she stood up. The sudden gesture made the ashen-haired girl flinch in surprise but continued reaching out her hand. Once she deemed her hand close to the wolf, she closed her eyes, praying that it won't bite her.

When she felt something fuzzy touch her hand, Kotori flinched slightly. But her hand stayed firmly in front of her, feeling the warm fuzzy object that came into contact with her hand. Forcing her eyes to open, she saw Umi leaning her head onto Kotori's outstretched hand. Finally convinced that Umi won't hurt her, she slowly moved her hand up and down on top of the wolf's head.

The pats she's receiving from Kotori proved to be enjoyable to Umi. Unknown to her, her eyes are closed and her tongue lolled off the side of her muzzle. She heard a quiet giggle and it snapped her out of the trance. Noticing how her actions seemed shameless, Umi broke away from Kotori's touch and sat down on the floor.

"S-Since… when?" Kotori asked. Knowing that Umi won't be able to answer her back, she just resumed to reach out to her to pet her head again.

Umi moved from the side and settled near the ashen-haired girl's bed. Kotori moved from her spot and sat down on the floor with her back leaning on her bed. Kotori knows Umi can't answer her so the two of them settled into a comfortable silence.

They listened to the trees rustle outside and the wind lightly tapping on the windows of their neighbours. The moon continues to shine down its light in Kotori's room, illuminating it with an eerie glow.

Kotori pondered on since when did this whole werewolf thing start out for Umi. She's certain that there's nothing like it from the day Honoka and her befriended Umi at the park. Not even during their practices or school idol performances. What prompted to bluenette to show her her secret right now? Was it because it's a full moon tonight? Was it the movie they watched earlier?

As if a light bulb lighted in her mind, Kotori gasped. The sound didn't go unheard with Umi's superb hearing sense. The wolf looked at the human beside her with what appears to be concern in its expression. Kotori looked at Umi with wide eyes, realisation dawning on to her facial features.

 _"Do you accept me for who I am?"_

Umi's words rang in her mind right before she transformed. She thought it was weird for the archer to suddenly ask something like that. She just repeated what the protagonist in the movie was saying. Umi tilts her head in confusion while looking at Kotori. She could feel an uncomfortable aura inside the room and it's coming from the human beside her.

Without warning, Kotori lunged at Umi, hugging the wolf. The unsuspecting wolf let out a startled bark. The hug surprised her that she couldn't squirm away from it. Even if she did, she could see Kotori clinging tightly to her. The two of them stayed like that for quite a while until Umi is starting to get really uncomfortable with it.

Kotori let the wolf go after a while.

"I do, Umi-chan. I do." Kotori could feel tears building up in her eyes. Once she noticed it, she immediately wiped them away. Umi notices it. The wolf moved closer to Kotori and gently nuzzled her head on the girl's arm. Kotori could feel that this is Umi's way of comforting her. While she misses the pats on her head when Umi assures her that everything is fine, she admits that her wolf form also carried that same feeling. The strong but calm aura on Umi didn't fade away even when she is not in human.

Kotori lightly pats Umi's head to assure her that she's fine. She gave a tired sigh, feeling that the stress of the events caught up to her. She closed her eyes while keeping her hand around Umi's furry neck. After a few seconds, Kotori's breaths deepened as she enters dreamland. Umi saw that Kotori's finally asleep and let out a huge yawn.

She felt that something heavy got lifted off of her chest when she decided to tell Kotori her true self. She's glad that Kotori didn't run off once she showed her other form. She was glad that Kotori assured her that everything's going to be alright. Although unvoiced, she felt it from the way Kotori held her and the pats she received from the girl. Kotori finally answering her question from earlier gave her a new wave of strength and confidence. She'd probably tell this one to Honoka next before revealing it to the rest of their group.

But right now, there's nothing more than she wants than to stay beside Kotori as she sleeps. She feels the urge to protect the girl, seeing how vulnerable and fragile Kotori is when she's asleep. Umi wants to stay up the entire night to watch over Kotori but the stress from burdening her secret for so long finally took its toll on her body. Adjusting herself without waking Kotori up, she laid her head on Kotori's lap. Once she settled in, she closed her eyes and let sleep take over her body. She has a lot of explaining to do in the morning but right now…

She was glad that Kotori accepted her.


End file.
